Post by gardenofegan on Dec 19, 2006 10:31:06 GMT -5
I write for a college newspaper. I did some reviews at Halloween about horror movies some people have never heard of or scared them when they were kids. Enjoy and comment.
Grading Scale
EEEE - Great
EEE - Good
EE- OK
E - Bad
e - Craptastic
Hardly known horror movies contribute to Halloween spirit
John Egan
Fourth Estate
Commentary
The horror movie genre is one that is everlasting. When walking down the aisles of a local movie rental establishment, more than any other genre, there will be rows of horror movies on the new release walls.
Truth be told, a lot of them are complete and utter crap. But, with Halloween just around the corner, it is only fair to give the readers some choices on horror movie selections on this most sacred of holidays.
But, everyone knows the usual suspects. “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Halloween,” “Friday the 13th,” “The Shining” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” are all amazing, but everyone already knows about them and seen them.
There are some great horror movies that are usually below the radar and worth watching. They are perfect for making you jump and feel sick to your stomach.
Event Horizon
“Vacate! I want off this ship!”
“You can’t leave. She won’t let you.”
In 2040, a ship known as the Event Horizon launched out on its’ maiden voyage, and disappeared into thin air.
Seven years later, the ship re-appears just outside of Neptune.
A search and rescues team who commands the Lewis and Clark, manned by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne), are assigned to the resurfaced ship.
With a crew of recognizable faces such as Joely Richardson (“Nip/Tuck”) and Jason Isaacs (“The Patriot”) and the ships designer, Dr. Weir (Sam Neill), the ship sets off to find and recover, if any, survivors.
What the crew embarks upon, however, is a horrific set of events no one would ever expect.
I first saw this movie when I was 12 in the theaters. My dad took me because I begged him and thought it was mystery sci-fi movie. In reality, the film is a thrilling gore fest that makes the stomach queasy.
Needless to say, I slept with the lights on that night, and my dad almost walked out of the theater during the movie.
The Event Horizon is a one-of-a-kind ship. Its’ engine includes “the heart,” which is a device that creates a mini-black hole. It can travel through this self-made hole to travel from one galaxy to another in mere seconds, much like a teleporter.
As the crew boards and explores the ship, a crew member is sucked into “the heart,” and after being released, causes a shockwave that severely damages the Lewis and Clark, causing the crew to stay on the Event Horizon.
While repairing their own ship and investigating the Event Horizon to search for survivors, it is discovered that once the original crew passed through the black hole, the world they came back through to was a hell-like world, full of pain and ghastly torture.
When the ship returned, it didn’t come back alone. The ship is almost alive itself, as the crew members are terrorized by visions, their worst fears and nightmares and even each other. No one is safe from the ship and the evil contained within.
“Event Horizon” is a great horror and sci-fi film for Halloween season. There are some good scares, but the movie, more than anything, is a gruesome experience. It’s a perfect choice for a scary movie, but should probably be viewed on an empty stomach.
EEEe
Pet Semetary
Based of Stephen King’s book, the film follows the Creed family as the move into a new home in the countryside town of Ludlow.
Louis Creed is the new doctor in town, and everything seems perfect in their new location except for the roaring trucks that zoom past his house, and a mysterious cemetery in the woods behind their house.
When the families’ cat Church dies, their new friend and neighbor Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne) informs Louis of an Indian burial ground located near the cemetery. It is said that if anything is buried there, it will come back alive.
A few days after Louis and Jud bury the cat, it comes back alive, but isn’t the same. It comes back evil, attacking the family and is not the same cat.
Tragedy strikes the Creed family, as their youngest son is killed. Completely devastated by his loss, Louis contemplates doing to his son what he did to Church. Jud constantly reminds him what a bad idea it would be, but Louis’s pain and devastation are ripping him apart. The Creed’s lives only get worse from there.
This was another movie I watched growing up that scared the crap out of me. With evil kids, freaky looking aunts and classic Stephen King horror, this film is a definite freak-out and creep fest. Plus, evil kids are always scary. Always.
“Sometimes, dead is better.”
EEE
The Thing
An American research base in Antarctica hears a helicopter in the distance. When going out to investigate, the helicopter is chasing and shooting at a dog. The helicopter crashes, and none of the men aboard it living.
The helicopter is from a Norwegian base located in proximity to their own. Pilot J.R. Macready (Kurt Russell) and a couple of men go to the base to find answers, only to find it in ruins. All that remains are frozen crew members and something that appears to be a deformed and mutilated body. It is brought back to the base to be examined.
During this process, the dog they discovered morphs into, well, a thing, with tentacles and looks a lot like an overgrown dog. They men torch the creature and are a bit freaked out.
After this event, there is a blackout at the base. The body they brought from the other base thaws, grabs onto one of the crew members, and tries to make a copy of him. It is quickly discovered with deformed parts, and torched as well. The crew quickly figures out that the alien can copy and absorb whatever it touches.
The rest of the movie is full of paranoia, scares and tons of gore and brutality. MacReady sets out to find who is and isn’t human, and everyone is a suspect. One of the crew members goes crazy, trashing all of the equipment and vehicles so the thing won’t reach the outside world. The crew is isolated, and stuck with an alien species that could be anyone. In all other sense of the word, they are screwed.
“The Thing” is one of the last movies before CGI special effects really took over the sci-fi and horror genres. The special effects are amazing for no computers, and it gives the movie a sense of realism and adds to the gore.
The movie’s deaths and encounters with the creature still make audiences look away, from losing limbs to bloody bubbling heads.
‘The Thing” is still a horror classic that should be watched. It is the perfect middle-of-nowhere paranoia movie, mixed with some good scares and a lot of gore. It is a great Halloween flick to absorb.
EEE
Grading Scale
EEEE - Great
EEE - Good
EE- OK
E - Bad
e - Craptastic
Hardly known horror movies contribute to Halloween spirit
John Egan
Fourth Estate
Commentary
The horror movie genre is one that is everlasting. When walking down the aisles of a local movie rental establishment, more than any other genre, there will be rows of horror movies on the new release walls.
Truth be told, a lot of them are complete and utter crap. But, with Halloween just around the corner, it is only fair to give the readers some choices on horror movie selections on this most sacred of holidays.
But, everyone knows the usual suspects. “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Halloween,” “Friday the 13th,” “The Shining” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” are all amazing, but everyone already knows about them and seen them.
There are some great horror movies that are usually below the radar and worth watching. They are perfect for making you jump and feel sick to your stomach.
Event Horizon
“Vacate! I want off this ship!”
“You can’t leave. She won’t let you.”
In 2040, a ship known as the Event Horizon launched out on its’ maiden voyage, and disappeared into thin air.
Seven years later, the ship re-appears just outside of Neptune.
A search and rescues team who commands the Lewis and Clark, manned by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne), are assigned to the resurfaced ship.
With a crew of recognizable faces such as Joely Richardson (“Nip/Tuck”) and Jason Isaacs (“The Patriot”) and the ships designer, Dr. Weir (Sam Neill), the ship sets off to find and recover, if any, survivors.
What the crew embarks upon, however, is a horrific set of events no one would ever expect.
I first saw this movie when I was 12 in the theaters. My dad took me because I begged him and thought it was mystery sci-fi movie. In reality, the film is a thrilling gore fest that makes the stomach queasy.
Needless to say, I slept with the lights on that night, and my dad almost walked out of the theater during the movie.
The Event Horizon is a one-of-a-kind ship. Its’ engine includes “the heart,” which is a device that creates a mini-black hole. It can travel through this self-made hole to travel from one galaxy to another in mere seconds, much like a teleporter.
As the crew boards and explores the ship, a crew member is sucked into “the heart,” and after being released, causes a shockwave that severely damages the Lewis and Clark, causing the crew to stay on the Event Horizon.
While repairing their own ship and investigating the Event Horizon to search for survivors, it is discovered that once the original crew passed through the black hole, the world they came back through to was a hell-like world, full of pain and ghastly torture.
When the ship returned, it didn’t come back alone. The ship is almost alive itself, as the crew members are terrorized by visions, their worst fears and nightmares and even each other. No one is safe from the ship and the evil contained within.
“Event Horizon” is a great horror and sci-fi film for Halloween season. There are some good scares, but the movie, more than anything, is a gruesome experience. It’s a perfect choice for a scary movie, but should probably be viewed on an empty stomach.
EEEe
Pet Semetary
Based of Stephen King’s book, the film follows the Creed family as the move into a new home in the countryside town of Ludlow.
Louis Creed is the new doctor in town, and everything seems perfect in their new location except for the roaring trucks that zoom past his house, and a mysterious cemetery in the woods behind their house.
When the families’ cat Church dies, their new friend and neighbor Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne) informs Louis of an Indian burial ground located near the cemetery. It is said that if anything is buried there, it will come back alive.
A few days after Louis and Jud bury the cat, it comes back alive, but isn’t the same. It comes back evil, attacking the family and is not the same cat.
Tragedy strikes the Creed family, as their youngest son is killed. Completely devastated by his loss, Louis contemplates doing to his son what he did to Church. Jud constantly reminds him what a bad idea it would be, but Louis’s pain and devastation are ripping him apart. The Creed’s lives only get worse from there.
This was another movie I watched growing up that scared the crap out of me. With evil kids, freaky looking aunts and classic Stephen King horror, this film is a definite freak-out and creep fest. Plus, evil kids are always scary. Always.
“Sometimes, dead is better.”
EEE
The Thing
An American research base in Antarctica hears a helicopter in the distance. When going out to investigate, the helicopter is chasing and shooting at a dog. The helicopter crashes, and none of the men aboard it living.
The helicopter is from a Norwegian base located in proximity to their own. Pilot J.R. Macready (Kurt Russell) and a couple of men go to the base to find answers, only to find it in ruins. All that remains are frozen crew members and something that appears to be a deformed and mutilated body. It is brought back to the base to be examined.
During this process, the dog they discovered morphs into, well, a thing, with tentacles and looks a lot like an overgrown dog. They men torch the creature and are a bit freaked out.
After this event, there is a blackout at the base. The body they brought from the other base thaws, grabs onto one of the crew members, and tries to make a copy of him. It is quickly discovered with deformed parts, and torched as well. The crew quickly figures out that the alien can copy and absorb whatever it touches.
The rest of the movie is full of paranoia, scares and tons of gore and brutality. MacReady sets out to find who is and isn’t human, and everyone is a suspect. One of the crew members goes crazy, trashing all of the equipment and vehicles so the thing won’t reach the outside world. The crew is isolated, and stuck with an alien species that could be anyone. In all other sense of the word, they are screwed.
“The Thing” is one of the last movies before CGI special effects really took over the sci-fi and horror genres. The special effects are amazing for no computers, and it gives the movie a sense of realism and adds to the gore.
The movie’s deaths and encounters with the creature still make audiences look away, from losing limbs to bloody bubbling heads.
‘The Thing” is still a horror classic that should be watched. It is the perfect middle-of-nowhere paranoia movie, mixed with some good scares and a lot of gore. It is a great Halloween flick to absorb.
EEE
